San Leandro Water Treatment Plant looks to Castro Valley Adult and Career Education externs for future employees
by Raul Clement
In the four decades since it first opened, Castro Valley Adult and Career Education has always sought out relationships with local employers. These relationships make employers more likely to hire CVACE graduates, and also open up opportunities for students in the form of externships. These externships can be essential for students to get the hands-on knowledge they need to pass state exams and are required to accumulate the work-hours required for certain certifications.
But strong relationships are a two-way street: CVACE students benefit from opportunities with local employers, while local employers benefit from having a strong pool of candidates to draw from.
One local employer that takes full advantage of its relationship with CVACE is the San Leandro Water Treatment Plant.
“Our success rate is really high. In just the last two years, for example, everyone who has [externed] here has either gotten a job here or somewhere else.”
Anthony Canevaro, Operations Supervisor, San Leandro Water Treatment Plant
“The communication with Castro Valley has been awesome,” says Anthony Canevaro, operations supervisor at the facility. “The instructors for their wastewater classes are former employees of our plant. I’m always getting phone calls from them about motivated individuals. I trust them and they trust me.”
The plant takes on many of these individuals as externs, allowing them to shadow experienced workers and learn the inner workings of the plant. While these externships are unpaid, they can often lead to a paid position as an operator-in-training. And along the way, externs accumulate the 1800 hours they need to be eligible to take the state exam and get their Grade 1 Water Treatment Operator certification.
“As soon as they get a little time under their belt here, I encourage them to start applying for jobs,” Canevaro says. “Our success rate is really high. In just the last two years, for example, everyone who has [externed] here has either gotten a job here or somewhere else.”
One current employee of the San Leandro Water Treatment Plant who has followed this path is Patrick Reyes. In the past six years, he has moved from CVACE extern to operator-in-training to Grade 1 Operator. With that move up came a substantial pay bump and the knowledge that he has found a long-term career.
“I feel very taken care of,” Reyes says. “There are great benefits. There’s great retirement. It’s wonderful.”
But more important than benefits is the sense of meaning he derives from his work.
“There’s a certain level of purpose,” Reyes says. “This job is very fulfilling because we’re keeping society going. If we didn’t handle wastewater, we might as well be living in medieval times. Disease would be rampant. Everything would be dirty. It’s a rewarding experience.”
Reyes thinks more people should consider a career path like his.
“We have this mindset where going to college is the end-all and be-all,” he says. “You get kudos and attaboys for attending a university. It’s supposed to guarantee a great job. But a lot of times, for a lot of people, this is actually better.”
This conviction has made Reyes a staunch advocate for Castro Valley’s adult school. A few years ago, he went to Sacramento on behalf of CVACE to speak to assembly members about increasing funding for adult schools. He hopes this will increase the visibility of career paths like his.
“It’s definitely worth it to get the word out to young people, to get them thinking down the line.”
Reyes intends to keep progressing beyond his Grade 1 certification. His current goal is Grade 3 journeyman, a designation that would allow him to be a shift supervisor at any plant in California.
If Reyes does move on to bigger and better things, Canevaro would celebrate his success.
“We’re a kind of stepping stone plant,” he says. “We’re proud of that. A guy I trained is the plant manager up in Modesto. Another guy I trained is the operation supervisor of Hayward. We have lead operators throughout the Bay Area, from down in Half Moon Bay all the way up through Santa Rosa. I’ve built this really nice network of people I get Christmas cards from and stay in communication with. It’s a really great feeling.”
To learn more about about the job training and educational offerings, opportunities and other benefits of enrolling at CVACE, visit cvadult.org.
